Tag: Tulip Siddiq

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people who received redundancy payments from the NHS in 2015-16 were subsequently re-employed by the NHS on a (a) consultancy and (b) permanent basis; and what the cost to the NHS was of those redundancy repayments.

Mr Philip Dunne

The number of compulsory redundancies in 2015-16 was 1,944.

The number of staff made redundant and then re-employed is not currently available.

In May 2015 the Government announced that it intended to take forward its manifesto commitment to end six-figure exit payments for public sector workers, including the National Health Service. The Enterprise Act containing provisions for the £95,000 public sector exit payment cap received Royal Assent in May 2016 and will come into force later this year.

Further legislation is being taken forward to allow for the recovery of exit payments from all high earning public sector workers who return to any part of the public sector within 12 months of leaving.

The Government’s changes to the NHS mean a huge net gain for the taxpayer. The Department published a written ministerial statement on 21 July 2015: Column 90WS NHS Modernisation setting out the costs and benefits of NHS modernisation. “The Department of Health also originally forecast that between 2010-11 and 2014-15 the reforms would save the NHS £4.5 billion in lower administration costs, as well as a further £1.5 billion a year thereafter. Actual savings were far greater, in cash terms at £6.9 billion over this period, including £2 billion in 2014-15—and in 2010-11 prices comparable to the impact assessment £6.5 billion, including £1.8 billion in 2014-15. This means the Government have successfully achieved their aim to reduce NHS bureaucracy costs by a third”.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to encourage local authorities to offer business rate exemptions to nurseries.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government does not collect data on particular types of premises that might have benefited from local discretionary relief.

Central Government has given local authorities wide-ranging, discretionary powers to grant business rates discounts as they see fit – they are best placed to serve the needs of their community. All local authorities which grant a local discount will receive 50% of the cost from central Government funds.

The Minister for Childcare wrote to all local authorities in November 2014 to encourage them to apply business rates relief to nurseries and reminded them that central Government will meet 50% of the costs involved. He also encouraged nurseries to follow up with their local authorities themselves. The Department for Communities and Local Government wrote to local authorities in January 2015, reinforcing this message. This letter is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/395333/BRIL_1__-_2015__-__General_-_14_Jan.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has accrued to the public purse from criminal courts charges since their introduction.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Data relating to the criminal courts charge for the period April to September 2015 will be published on 17 December 2015.

Enforcement action is taken against the total amount an offender owes and offenders are often ordered to pay more than one type of financial imposition.

The cost of enforcing the criminal courts charge cannot be separated from the total cost of enforcing all types of court ordered financial impositions.

It is not possible to identify how many people have had a criminal courts charge imposed in magistrates or crown courts or for specific offences without carrying out a manual search of all financial imposition accounts which would incur disproportionate costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of criminal cases in (a) magistrates courts and (b) crown courts the defendant (i) pleaded guilty without trial and (ii) was acquitted following trial.

Mr Shailesh Vara

In 2014, 18.5% of all defendants tried at the Crown Court were acquitted (15,868 out of a total of 85,943 defendants tried at the Crown Court).

In 2014, 99.5% of defendants who pleaded guilty in the Crown Court did so before a jury trial commenced. The methodology for producing the relevant magistrates data is being developed and I will write to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for Disclosure and Barring Service checks (a) nationally, (b) in London and (c) in Hampstead and Kilburn constituency met each of the service’s published service standards for waiting times in each year since 2012.

Karen Bradley

The following tables shows the proportion of applications for DBS checks that met the Published Service Standards for waiting times nationally and for applications received from people residing in London postcodes in each year since December 2012:

Table 1: All applications nationally

Period	Total Apps Despatched	21 Calendar Day Target	21 Day Achievement	56 Calendar Day Target	56 Day Achievement
Dec-12 to Mar-13	1,223,773	85%	89.4%	95%	99.1%
Apr-13 to Mar-14	3,948,733	85%	85.2%	95%	97.4%
Apr-14 to Mar-15	4,111,856	85%	85.3%	95%	95.1%
Apr-15 to Nov-15	2,911,934	85%	86.5%	95%	94.9%

Table 2: Applications from London postcodes

Period	Total Apps Despatched	21 Calendar Day Target	21 Day Achievement	56 Calendar Day Target	56 Day Achievement
Dec-12 to Mar-13	124,908	85%	83.4%	95%	98.7%
Apr-13 to Mar-14	398,168	85%	80.2%	95%	95.9%
Apr-14 to Mar-15	420,783	85%	81.8%	95%	89.0%
Apr-15 to Nov-15	293,549	85%	84.1%	95%	86.8%

It is not possible to provide the figure for applications from Hampstead and Kilburn constituency as this information is not collected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many requests for arms export licences to Saudi Arabia (a) have been made, (b) were rejected by the Export Control Organisation (ECO), (c) were granted by the ECO and (d) were revoked after being granted in each year since 2009-10.

Anna Soubry

a) The number of Saudi Arabian arms export licences submitted for processing, per calendar year since 2009, is as follows:

Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Number of Applications 118 148 143 158 161 167 203

b-d) Information on arms export licences are published as Official Statistics in the quarterly and annual reports on Strategic Export Controls. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. They are available to view at GOV.UK.

The most recently published information covers the period until 30 June 2015. Information covering 1 July to 30 September 2015 will be published on 19 January 2016 and information covering 1 October to 31 December 2015 will be published on 19 April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many times he has used his powers under Section 25B (5) of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 to give local planning authorities powers to exempt certain areas from the provisions of Section 25A of that Act without the need for them to request his consent; and which local planning authorities he has so exempted.

Brandon Lewis

My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government(Greg Clark) has received one request from a local planning authority to exempt particular properties or areas under section 25A of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973. The request was made by Westminster City Council, and is currently under consideration by Ministers. The Secretary of State has not used his powers under Section 25B (5) of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to address the exclusion of mothers’ names on marriage certificates.

James Brokenshire

There is agreement that the names of both parents should be included in the marriage entry. The Home Office has, therefore, been working with all interested parties to consider the most efficient and effective way to achieve this. Doing so is likely to require additional funding and changes to legislation, IT systems and administrative processes. A timetable will be confirmed for changes as soon as there is an opportunity to legislate on this matter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what mechanisms (a) are available and (b) will be available from 2016-17 for applicants for disabled students’ allowance (DSA) who wish to appeal against an assessment by an independent needs assessor; how many students have appealed against such a DSA assessment in each year since 2009-10; and how many of those appeals have been found in favour of the appellant in each of those years.

Joseph Johnson

All disabled higher education students who are eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) are referred to an independent assessment centre so as to identify the type and level of support they require.

A DSAs Needs Assessment Report, which sets out any recommendations for support, is agreed between the independent needs assessor and the student. The assessment report is not a decision about the type and amount of support to be provided.

The assessment report is submitted to Student Finance England (SFE), who makes a decision about the type and amount of support they will fund.

Student Finance England has an established appeals process which students can use if they do not agree with the final decision made by Student Finance England in relation to any aspect of their support.

SFE appeals information is categorised by appeal issue type rather than by student support product type. Therefore information on appeals that specifically relate to DSAs is not produced.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions in each year since 2009-10 he has been asked to confirm a local planning authority’s decision to revoke planning permission under Section 97 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; and on how many such occasions he (a) confirmed and (b) overturned that decision.

Brandon Lewis

Section 97 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 means that if it appears to the local planning authority that it is expedient to do so, it may make an order revoking any planning permission to develop land. When an order is opposed by the owner and occupier of the land or by other persons who in the authority’s opinion will be affected, the order has to be submitted to the Secretary of State and shall not take effect unless it is confirmed by him.

For each year since 2009/10:

Year	Number submitted for confirmation	Confirmed	Overturned (declined to confirm)
2009/10	1	1	None
2010/11	1	None	None
2011/12	None	None	None
2012/13	1	None	None (withdrawn by authority)
2013/14	None	None	None
2014/15	None	None	None
2015/16	None	None	None